Exercising machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. L. DOWD.

EXEROISING MACHINE; No. 434,771. Patented Aug. 19, 1890 Ill 1 1T :9 I /Z S Z. an: z E s\ 5 w/NSNTOFD BY a 2 SIieets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

D. L. DOWD. EXEIwIsING MACHINE.

Patented Au 19, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL L. DOWD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

EXERClSlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,771, dated August 19, 1890.

' Application filed January 21, 1890 Serial No. 337,660. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL L. Down, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Exercising- Machine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to that class of exercising-machines that are operated by ropes attached to rotatable pulleys, and in which the desired resistance is furnished by springs attached to said pulleys. V

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, durable, and efficient machine for the development of all the muscles of body, arms, legs, and neck, and strengthen chest and lungs, in which the amount of resistance may be easily varied and regulated.

To this end my invention consists in an exercising-machineand in modifications thereof constructed substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device; Fig. 2, an end view of the same; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the line w 00 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a vertical longitudinal section on the line 3 y of Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a longitudinal section of the device provided with a double fusee-pulley, said pulley having a spiral groove upon its face; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section of the device provided with a double fusee-pulley having a plain face; Fig. 7, a longitudinal section of the device provided with a plain cylindrical pulley; and Fig. 8, a front elevation of the device as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, but on a smaller scale.

The cylinder A, which constitutes the case of the machine, is made in two verticallyseparable parts, and is provided with laterally-extending flanges A which are united by suitable screws. The ends of the cylinder are formed into suitable bearing a to fit the shaft B, upon which the cylinder is loosely mounted, and in the front of the cylinder is a horizontal slot I), having a roller C pivoted in the upper and lower part thereof, and through the slot 1) and between the rollers 0 projects the strap or cord by which the machine is operated. As the operating-strap projects through the slot 1) in the cylinder A, it is obvious that the vertical and lateral movements of the strap will belimited by the size of the slot, and thus the case A will prevent the strap from being thrown off the pulley of the machine.

WVithin the cylinder A and mounted loosely upon the shaft B is a flanged pulley D, which is connected to the shaft B by the flat spiral spring E, which is coiled around the shaft B upon the inside of the pulley, and one end of which is attachedfto the pulley and the other to the shaft, so'that when the pulley D is turned upon the shaft the spring E will be tightened, and when the pulley is released the reaction of the spring will turn it in the opposite direction. The pulley D has a removable side D, which is attached to the pulley by screws .9, and which may be removed when the spring E is placed within the pulley.

Attached to the flanged pulley D is a strap F, which is wound upon the pulley, and the end of which projects through the slot 1) between the rollers C, and is provided with a pair of handles H, which are attached to the strap by a swivel d, so that the handles may be turned over at will without twisting the strap. The handles H are provided with a crossbar H, to which the swivel d is attached, and which will prevent the handles from being drawn into the slot 1). When the handles H are released, the action of the pulley-spring will draw the cross-bar H against therollers G in the slot b, and the further action of the spring will turn the cylinder till the cross-bar strikes the bracket K, which will stop the cylinder and prevent the pulley-spring from being unwound.

The shaft B and the cylinder A and pulley D thereon are suspended by an inverted-U- shaped frame. J, which extends across the top of the cylinder A, and the arms of which extend downwardly at each end of the cylinder and afford a bearing for the shaft 13, the ends of which extend through the arms of said frame. The top of the frame J is bent upwardly at the part I, and is pivoted to a bracket K by the pin 6. The bracket K may be attached to the wall or other support in any suitable manner.

The machine is operated by pulling out- ICO wardly upon the handles H, which will unwind the strap F from the pulley D by turning the pulley, the rollers G preventing the strap from catching or being worn upon the edge of the slot 1), and when the handles 11 are released or the pressure removed from them the action of the spring E will turn the pulley D in the opposite direction and rewind the strap F upon the pulley, when the machine will be ready for another operation. It will be seen that as the strap is pulled out the resistance of the spring will increase; but I provide the machine with the following mechanism for adjusting the amount of resistance at the starting-point:

The shaft B is provided with asquared end B, which projects through an arm of the frame J, and upon which is fitted the toothed wheel f, which meshes with a worm g, which is mounted in the brackets it upon the frame J, just below the worm g, so that by turning the worm the wheel f will be turned, thus turning the shaft B and tightening or loosening the spring E. Attached to the squared end of the shaft B just inside the wheel f is a toothed piece f, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2,) having one tooth which meshes with the toothed wheel m, which is pivoted to the frame J just above the shaft B, so that when the shaft B is turned once around the tooth f will turn the wheel m the distance of one tooth or notch of the wheel. The wheel m is provided with a pointer 01., which extends upwardly to a curved indicator L upon the frame J, and upon which are marked the numbers representing the resistance in pounds of the spring E. We will suppose the normal resistance of the spring is four pounds, as shown upon the indicator, and it is desired to increase it to seven, the next number. By simply turning the worm g the wheel f will be turned, and this will turn the shaft B, thus tightening the spring E and increasing the amount of resistance. The spring E is so adjusted that one turn of the shaft B will increase its resistance three pounds, so that to increase it from four to seven the shaft B is 'turned once around, and the tooth f will mesh with the wheel m and turn it the distance of one tooth, which will advance the pointer n from four on the indicator L to seven, thus indicating the change in the resistance of the spring E. When the strength of the spring is to be lessened, the worm g, wheel f, and shaft B are turned in the opposite direction. The change in the resisting force of the spring E can be made less than three pounds for each revolution of the shaft B by increasingthe number of teeth f, which mesh with the wheel.

In Fig. 5 I have shown the machine provided with a double fusee-pulley D tapering toward the center and provided withaspiral groove p, which extends across the entire face of the pulley. The groove p should be right and left, meeting in the center-11 e., one end of the pulley should be provided with a right groove and the other with a left. The fusee-pulley D is mounted upon the shaft B in the same manner as the pulley D, already described, except that instead of having one central spring E it is provided with a similar spring E in each end thereof, but can be operated with one spring as well as two, the pulley having its ends recessed to make room for the spring which is attached to the pulley and shaft in the manner already described.

The inclosing cylinder A, suspendingframe J, and the worm-wheel attachment for regulating the resistance of the springs are precisely like those parts described above, except that the cylinder and frame are longer.

The pulley D is provided with a cord F, which is attached to each end thereof, is wound around the pulley in the groove 1), and extends outwardly through the slot b, where it maybe provided with a suitable operating handle or handles. By attaching the cord F in this manner it will unwind from the center of the pulley toward the ends, and the increasing diameter of the pulley will counteract the increasing resistance of the springs, so that it will require the same strength to pull the cord F at the beginning as at the end of a stroke.

In Fig. 6 the double fusee-pulley D has no groove upon its face; but the cord F is attached in the same manner, and in every other way, both in construction and operation, it is like thepulley D and is inclosed in the same kind of case.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a plain cylindrical pulley D having recessed ends provided with springs E, as described above, and having the cord F attached thereto at each end. This device is operated like the other modifications already described, and as the pulley is not a fusee the resistance of the springs will of course increase as the cord is pulled out.

The flanged pulley D is preferably provided with a strap and the other pulleys with a cord, as shown; butI do not confine myself to any particular form of either, and either may be provided with any suitable handles, although I prefer the handles shown and described.

It is obvious that a double flanged pulley may be used instead of the single pulley D, and that a single fuses-pulley may be used instead of a double one, as shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. An exercising-machine consisting, essentially, of a cylindrical case mounted loosely upon a shaft and having a horizontal slot in its face, a suitable suspending-frame, in which the ends of the shaft may rest and by which the machine may be supported, a pulley mounted loosely upon said shaft and connected thereto by a coil-spring, one end of the spring being fastened to the shaft and the other end to the pulley, a suitable cord or strap attached to said pulley and adapted to be wound thereon, one end of said strap projecting through the slot in the case and having suitable handles attached thereto, and a worm-wheel attachment, substantially as shown, whereby the shaft may be turned and the pulley-spring tightened, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a cylindrical case having a horizontal 'slot in its face, a shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted, and a suspending-fraine supporting the ends of said shaft, of a fusee-pulley mounted upon said shaft within said case, a cord or strap attached to said pulley and adapted to be wound thereon, said strap projecting through the slot in the case and having suitable handles attached thereto, and a worm-wheel attachment, substantially as shown, connected with the end of said shaft and adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistence of the fusee-spring, substantially as described.

3. The combination, witha cylindrical case having a horizontal slot in its face, a shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted, and a suspending-frame supporting the ends of said shaft, of a double fusee-pulley mounted upon said shaft within said case, a cord or strap attached to said pulley and adapted to be wound thereon, said strap projecting through the slot in the case where it is provided with suitable handles, and a worm-wheel attachment, substantiallyas shown, connected with the end of said shaft, adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistance of the fusee-spring, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a cylindrical case having a horizontal slot in its face, a shaft upon which said case is loosely mounted, and

the end of said shaft and adapted to turn the shaft and change the resistance of the fusee-spring, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the suspendingframe and shaft B, having a spring-pulley mounted thereon, as shown, of the toothed wheel f, fixed to the end of said shaft, and the worm g, attached to said frame so as to mesh with the wheel f, whereby said shaft may be turned and the spring thereon tightened or loosened, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the suspendingframe having an indicator, as L, affixed thereto, and the shaft B, having a springactuated pulley mounted thereon, as shown, of the toothed wheel f, fixed to the end of said shaft, the Worm g, attached to the frame so as to mesh with the wheel f, the tooth f, fixed to the shaft B, and the wheel m, having pointer 91 pivoted to the frame so as to mesh with the tooth f, whereby the shaft B may be turned, the spring thereon tightened or loosened, and the change shown upon the indicator, substantially as described.

DANIEL L. DOWD.

Witnesses:

T. C. J ONES, JOHN OAMICHEL. 

